Conservation Directives

To overcome the barriers and enable use of conservation directives, the Environmental Law Centre recommends that the Province of Alberta: Develop policy and regulations to guide the use of conservation directives. [...] The research supporting these findings included: A review of the law and policy context surrounding conservation directives; A review of literature on the tool, of which there is very little; A search for similar tools in other jurisdictions; Personal interviews with current and past government officials involved in the development of ALSA, and experts in the fields of law, land use planni [...] A conservation directive must (a) describe the precise nature of the conservation directive, its intended purpose and the protection, conservation, management or enhancement that is the subject of the conservation directive; (b) identify or prescribe a means of identifying the parcels of land that are the subject of the conservation directive. [...] The landowner must apply for compensation within twelve months of receiving notice of the directive.11 First they must make an application to the Stewardship Commissioner (the head of the Land Use Secretariat, which is the government agency responsible for the implementation of ALSA).12 The Stewardship Commissioner must decide whether compensation is payable and the amount, or they may refer the m [...] Appeals from both the Land Compensation Board and the Court of Queen’s Bench are to the Alberta Court of Appeal.16 The compensation is payable by the provincial government.17 This focus on compensation more than conservation dates back to the origins of conservation directive.